


Happy Veteran's Day

by ShadowKitt



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Brief Appearance by Skipper's Squad, Father-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowKitt/pseuds/ShadowKitt
Summary: Veteran's Day is a day to honor our Veterans. Skipper doesn't think he should be remembered because of what happened 50 years ago. Can Dusty help Skipper see that he deserves to be honored as well? Read and find out :)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Happy Veteran's Day

As the sun rose in Propwash Junction, it’s bright, warm rays shone through Dusty’s hangar. As the light hit his eyes, Dusty rolled backwards a bit to escape the blinding rays. Finally away from the sun, the air tractor opened his eyes and started to blink a couple of times to get his vision back. Yawning and stretching a bit, Dusty was ready to get some breakfast.

Opening his hangar doors, Dusty, for some reason, stopped by his calendar and looked to see what he had down for the day.

‘Wow, I completely forgot about that.’

Forgetting about his breakfast, Dusty rolled towards Skipper’s hangar, hoping the warbird was awake. As he approached the doors, the small plane heard a very distinctive voice, “No, Sparky, I don’t have anything to celebrate today, please.”

“But Skip-”

“Sparky, please. I just want to be left alone.”

As Dusty was preparing to roll back, the hangar doors opened and a very depressed looking tug came out. Sparky’s grey eyes met Dusty’s turquoise blues and Sparky sighed.

“Sorry, Dust, Skipper’s not in the mood for anyone. I think I messed up.”

“What happened, Spark?”

Sparky sighed as he motioned for Dusty to follow him quite a bit aways from Skipper’s hangar. When Sparky deemed them far away, he explained, “You see, today’s Veteran’s Day and even though it’s a day to acknowledge war vets, Skipper lost his Squad on this day as well. And as I was trying to wish him “Happy Veteran’s Day”, he got upset and didn’t want to talk about it. I messed up bad, Dust.”

As a single tear slipped down Skipper’s mechanic’s face, Sparky felt pretty bad. After thinking for a moment, the air tractor had an idea.

“I know you didn’t mean to make him upset, Spark. It’s definitely a very sore subject for anyone to mention but I’ll try and talk to him, ok?”

A sniffle was heard as Sparky looked up, hopeful, “Really? Thank you Dusty. I really hate to see him so upset and especially on a day like today.”

Dusty smiled as he rolled past the tug towards the Corsair’s hangar, “You’re welcome, Sparky. I’ll see you later.”

“Ok, great, and good luck, Dust.”

As Dusty finally got back to the path that led him back to the hangars, his head was swirling with ideas on how to talk with Skipper when his nose bumped into something. As he backed up to see what he bumped into, worried grey-blue eyes looked into turquoise-blues.

“Dusty? Are you ok?”

Dusty shook himself to clear his head and as his vision cleared and he saw Skipper, a look of concern on his face. Skipper rolled backwards to let Dusty inside his hangar. Dusty tipped his nose in a silent ‘thank you’ and went in. Once inside, the small air tractor was about to answer Skipper’s question when a growl was heard. An embarrassed chuckle escaped Dusty as Skipper smiled, rolled over to his personal stash, grabbed a couple of cans of oil and rolled over to Dusty, setting both cans down. 

Dusty picked up a can and started sipping it when he heard, “Don’t you usually get breakfast after you wake up, Son?”

“Yes, Dad but something caught my attention and I kinda forgot. Can I ask you a question?”

“You already did.”

“Har de har har, Dad. But seriously, can I? Without getting you upset?”

Immediately knowing what the question was, the Corsair sighed and started to sag on his landing gear, his eyes misting as his thoughts went back to that terrible day. Dusty, seeing the look on his dad’s face, knew Skipper was reliving the memory of what happened back 50 years ago.

A gentle nudging brought him back out of his revelry as grey-blue eyes focused back to the present. As he shook himself to get rid of the memories, Skipper received a nuzzle and heard a purr from the small air tractor. 

“Dad?”

“I’m sorry, Dusty. I just don’t see why everyone thinks I’m a hero, which I’m not. All these years, I blame myself for my stupidity. I couldn’t tell them no, so I watched as my whole Squad lost their lives and I let them down. Hell, I even lied to you and you’re my son, what kind of father does that? I’m nothing but a coward. I don’t deserve that Purple Heart.”

As Skipper bared his soul for his son to see, Dusty came close and nuzzled the Corsair and that’s all it took. Skipper leaned on Dust’s side and cried. Dusty didn’t move one inch as the warbird just unleashed all the hurt and pain he had held in for so long.

After what seemed like hours, when it was just 15 minutes, Skipper calmed down. Lifting himself back upright, he found that he felt better, his mind clearer. Giving the small plane a sideways glance, he saw his son’s unique eyes looking back at him, smiling. Offering a smile of his own, Skipper wrapped a wing around the air tractor.

Snuggling against the Corsair and returning the hug, Dusty asked, “How are you feeling, Dad?”

Tightening the hug, Skipper answered, “I’m feeling much better, Dust, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. I wanted to ask you something earlier and please, hear me out. You’re definitely a hero and no, you’re not a coward. You’re strong and you never gave up. If you did, you wouldn’t be here today and I doubt your Squad wouldn’t let you beat yourself up over what happened. You’re holding on to their memories, keeping them alive, Dad. And the only way to let them down is to let the enemy beat you. And that’s what you were doing when you’ve punished yourself from flying all those years ago. I know you lied to me and I told you that I forgive you and you’re the best father I’ve ever had. And you certainly deserve that Purple Heart, not many would have survived what you’ve gone through.”

As Skipper’s mind was reeling from what Dusty had just said, his tank started to churn, his breakfast being forgotten previously. Skipper broke the hug, he rolled towards his forgotten can of oil and started drinking it. Dusty smiled as he also went towards his own oil can. As they finished, Dusty turned towards the hangar doors and Skipper followed to open them. Before Skipper could touch the button, Dusty rolled over and gave the Corsair a nuzzle.

“I love you, Dad. Thank you so much for your service and Happy Veteran’s Day.”

Nuzzling the air tractor back, Skipper said, “Thank you, Dusty. And thank you for what you said. I never thought of anything that way, I guess I was angry with myself. I couldn’t save my Squad but like you said, I’m keeping them alive by remembering them.” 

Giving the Corsair a smile, Dusty turned away to go through the hangar doors on his way to his own hangar. Rolling inside, Dusty decided to radio Cabbie. As he was putting in the frequency number for the C-119, his radio started to make a familiar noise as someone was calling in. 

“This is Dusty Crophopper.”

“Hey Kid.”

“Well, hey, Cabbie, just the plane I wanted to talk to.”

“Really? I guess I called at just the right time, huh?”

“Yep, you sure did. Anyway Cabbie, I just wanted to wish you a Happy Veteran’s Day and to thank you for your service.”

“Well, thank you so much, Dusty.”

As Skipper was about to turn in for the night, he thought he heard someone outside. Thinking that Dusty might have forgotten to ask him something, he pushed the button to open the doors. As he went outside, he didn’t see his son anywhere. 

‘Huh, I could’ve sworn that-’

The Corsair turned to go back inside when he heard, “Skipper.”

Spinning in a 360 degree circle, Skipper thought he was hearing things as he didn’t see anyone around. Chalking it up to exhaustion, he was about to go back in his hangar when out of the darkness, “Happy Veteran’s Day, Skipper.”

Shock hit Skipper like a freight train as he turned towards the entryway of his hangar and saw his Squad with smiles on their faces. A tear slipped down his cheek and he couldn’t find his voice. But he didn’t need to say anything as Lucas smiled and said, “It’s ok, Skip. We’re ok. We just wanted to let you know that we were very lucky to have you as our skipper and we’ll never forget you. Please do us a favor, stop blaming yourself for what happened, ok? It wasn’t your fault. And thank your son for us. You know what we're talking about. We gotta go, bye Skipper and Happy Veteran’s Day again.”

With a chorus of “Bye Skipper” the ghosts of the rookie Jolly Wrenches Squad flew off towards the sky. As Skipper’s nose came down, he knew what Lucas meant. He was so depressed and was starting to give up on life when Dusty saved him.

Skipper looked towards Dusty’s hangar and made a decision: he gently knocked on the door, hoping that he wasn’t interrupting Dusty if he was still on the radio.. A few seconds passed when the doors opened and Skipper was about to apologize when, “Hey Dad, are you alright?”

“I’m alright, Dust. I need to tell you something before it gets too late.”

Nodding, Dusty led Skipper to the sleeping mat. As they were settling down, Skipper told Dusty everything. And when he had finished, the small plane was shocked. But what really shocked him was that they knew about him.

‘And thank your son for us. You know what we mean.’

As Dusty was about to say something, Skipper beat him to it: “Dusty, I know I never thanked you for this but I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I never would have made it this far without you. So thank you for everything, Son. And the Squad wanted to thank you as well.” 

Dusty smiled and was about to respond but as soon as he opened his mouth, a yawn escaped. Giving an embarrassed chuckle, Dusty said, “You’re very welcome, Dad. You know I’ll do anything for you. And if you do see your Squad again, tell them they’re welcome.”

Skipper was about to leave when a wing stopped him and guided him back towards the sleeping mat. As soon as they settled down again, they tucked their landing gear underneath them and both planes started to drift off to sleep. Before Dusty fell completely asleep, he snuggled close to Skipper and gave him a nuzzle. Skipper nuzzled his son back as his eyes closed and a small smile formed on his face.

For the first time since that day, 50 years ago, Skipper had never felt lighter, and that was thanks to Dusty and his Squad.


End file.
